


Clarity

by itsajoshyboy



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Cursed by a God - AU, Dialogue Light, F/M, Reincarnation - AU, but not a lot, small mentions of gray/lucy and lyon/ultear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-30
Updated: 2017-03-30
Packaged: 2018-10-13 02:27:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10504524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsajoshyboy/pseuds/itsajoshyboy
Summary: It almost took them too many tries to get it right.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dragonshost](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonshost/gifts).



> Part of the Graytear exchange on Tumblr. I have some mixed feelings about the end result, but I overall like it. May try and add more substance some day as there were parts I couldn't get to work that I wanted to.

_High dive into frozen waves where the past comes back to life_   
_Fight fear for the selfish pain, it was worth it every time_   
_Hold still right before we crash 'cause we both know how this ends_   
_A clock ticks 'til it breaks your glass and I drown in you again_

_'Cause you are the piece of me I wish I didn't need_   
_Chasing relentlessly, still fight and I don't know why_

_If our love is tragedy, why are you my remedy?_   
_If our love's insanity, why are you my clarity?_

_-"Clarity" by Zedd ft. Foxes_

**_i. the price we pay for love_ **

It was quiet night in the city of Mildian; the brief period of early morning when almost no one was about the streets. Ultear was one of the exceptions, standing inside the doorway of the Temple of Chronos; waiting for her love, Gray, to arrive.

He was a member of the city guard; usually assigned to guard the temple and the priestesses who dwelled within. It was how they'd met; he was her bodyguard as she did the temples shopping one day. He'd kept a respectful distance, but made sure he kept his eyes on her, to be on the safe side. Whilst they didn't talk on the way to the markets, she made sure to at least try on the way back; she'd never been to keen on long silences.

He'd been guarded not revealing much about himself at first, but that only served to make her a little more curious about who he was. He was almost a puzzle, and she loved solving puzzles.

Gray ended up becoming her regular guard; and slowly they made progress towards a more comfortable relationship between them. Ultear liked his passion, his devotion to what he believed to be right and wrong. His magic was a bonus on the warm days too; the cool touch of the back of his hand on her forehead made her shiver for more than just the obvious reason.

When she first realized that she was becoming attached, she had felt panic surge through her body. She needed to stop…stop whatever this was between the two of them. She was a priestess who had pledged an oath into the service of Chronos; the kind of relationship that she was beginning to desire to happen between them was forbidden.

She had tried to bring herself to request a different guard, but she couldn't. What could she even say? She couldn't lie and say that he'd done something to her; his punishment would be severe and she couldn't bear the thought of hurting someone like that. She couldn't tell the truth though either; the result would likely be just as bad, but for both of them this time. And the thought of never seeing him again; never hearing his voice or feeling his touch, left her feeling…numb.

It was hard being around him, but it was harder the moments she wasn't. Ultear could feel it beginning to eat away at her, and she honestly had no idea as to what she should do. However she didn't have to feel this way long.

_"_ _I've fallen for you."_ Gray had said one night when they were alone on one of the balcony's, as he'd gently caressed her face. The walls she'd thought she could build, the control she'd managed to maintain, the lingering doubts about how wrong it was; all of them vanished in that instant, like they were never there to begin with.

They met whenever they could in the following weeks; their little clandestine romance bringing a new glow into her life. That had come with it's own set of problems though. Ultear had known that she wasn't keeping as good a lid on her emotions as she'd hoped; she'd overheard the other priestesses whispering, growing suspicious. And she was afraid; for the first time in her life she'd had something she'd truly wanted for herself, and call her selfish but she couldn't loose it, loose _him_.

As she waited for Gray, she couldn't help the uneasy feeling that was beginning to rest in her gut. Though they still had some time till the agreed meeting hour, his absence was beginning to make her feel on edge. Before she could contemplate this feeling further though, a bright light shone from behind her, illuminating the inside of the temple.

She turned to investigate the source, but a sharp, searing pain in her head brought her to her knees. She cried out in pain, hands fisted against her temples; hoping- _praying_ that the pain would stop.

"Sister… Ultear…" an unfamiliar voice echoed within her head; the pain spiked with every syllable. "You dare… defile your oath… your vow to me within my own temple…"

Her eyes had flown open in surprise; it was the god himself speaking to her.

"I know what… You've done…" Chronos continued as the agony overtook her. She couldn't think of anything else, couldn't feel anything else; all she could do was focus on the God's voice and hope it was enough. "This violation cannot… go unpunished… you and your lover… will both face the consequences…"

"Gray, no," Ultear managed to gasp out. She couldn't bear the thought of him suffering like she was right now.

"As the God of Time… I sentence you both… to an eternity of despair…" Chronos continued, voice having deepened in her mind. "You will both live… again and again… finding one another… only for it to fall to ruin… again and again… happiness eternally out of reach"

Ultear felt her head clear, the silence deafening in her mind. Darkness consumed her vision, whether from the light having faded or her eyes closed, she wasn't sure. She still couldn't feel anything. The only thing she was sure of, was Chronos' punishment. His words played over and over, till everything went blank.

**_ii. the moments that almost were_ **

Gray stood in the queue for the ship, waiting to board. It felt liked he'd been stood here for hours already. "How long is this going to take?" he asked Cana, his friend who was accompanying him on this voyage.

"Too long," Cana groaned in response. "There better be booze on this ship or you're dead."

Gray chuckled as she glared at him, but still backed away slightly. You never came between Cana and booze. They were currently en route to Fiore; a fresh start was what both of them needed.

He had a reply ready to fire away, when he was distracted by a purple haired woman at the front of the line who was currently boarding the ship. He only snagged a glimpse, but his heart was still thumping wildly in his chest. He felt some kind of pull, leading him straight to her.

A shove to the arm broke him out of his trance, and he whipped round to face Cana who was giving him an annoyed stare. "Come on Gray, the lines moving forward. We can't just stop and stand still like idiots. Oh, and don't forget your clothes too."

_Dammit._ Gray quickly grabbed his shirt off the floor and moved forward. He didn't dwell on his previous feelings for the unknown woman, it was a big ship they were boarding, he probably wouldn't see her again.

Sometime later, he and Cana were sat on the deck, her drinking away from her barrel and he just enjoying the sunshine, when he felt the strange pull from earlier. A quick look around the deck, and he spotted her; leaning against the barrier of the ship, hair dancing in the wind as she looked out at the horizon.

He didn't know why, but he felt a strong pull leading him towards her. Was this the string of fate that his mother had often talked about?

"Are you going to go say hi, or are you content with being a creep?" Cana teased, breaking his spell once again.

"Wait, what? What do you mean?"

"You've been staring at her for a while now; getting a little stalkerish in my opinion."

"Whatever Cana, you're just imagining things."

"All I'm saying is that if you don't go over there soon, someone else might. Like me; I think she's gorgeous."

"Stay put and I'll buy you another barrel."

"Two and you've got a deal. Go get her; and please don't strip in front of her. Yet."

Gray steeled his nerves as he rose to his feet. He'd never really felt nervous when talking with girls before, but this was different. He cautiously began the walk towards her, wondering what he would say when he got there.

"PIRATES!" Echoed all around the ship, and Gray whipped around barely catching sight of the cannonball before it collided with the ship; the unknown stranger who captured his heart disappearing into the depths.

**_iii. the just too late_ **

It should have been a happy occasion, her wedding day, but the newly dubbed Lady Ultear couldn't shake the feeling of sorrow. It's not that there was anything wrong with her new husband; Lyon was a sweetheart, and he did genuinely care for her. No, the problem was that her heart had been captured by another, Lord Lyon's brother in fact.

She'd met Lyon first; their parents had arranged the union and at the time Ultear had seen no reason to argue against it. They'd got on well during the initial meeting and she had hoped that with time she would love him. It wasn't until the engagement dinner that she'd met Lord Gray, the 'black sheep' of the family.

She'd been drawn to him the moment they met; he set her soul alight in a way that no one else had. She felt complete when she was around him; not that she could eve say it out loud. She may not have been in love with Lyon, but she had made a promise to him, a promise that she wasn't about to go back on. This was what her family wanted from her, what they had worked so hard to secure for her, and she couldn't throw that away.

They'd spoken a little during the actual event; it wasn't till afterwards that they truly talked for the first time. He asked questions that she hadn't been asked in a while; about _her_ hopes, _her_ dreams, _her_ desires. He payed attention to her in a way that Lyon…didn't. She supposed it was in the way he was raised, being the eldest, or maybe because he thought they'd have the rest of their lives to get to know one another.

Needless to say, Gray had planted his roots into her heart, her soul, her entire being; and though it made her feel alive, it also scared her. They talked several times after that in the short time leading up to her wedding; she learned as much about him as he did her.

The first kiss they shared happened after she'd helped him perfect his Ice-Make techniques; she was skilled beyond most, her mother having trained her from a young age in secret lest she ever need to defend herself. She wasn't sure who had made the first move, but before she knew it, their lips were moving in rhythm with one another; his hands gently caressing her face, as hers ran down his back.

It didn't last much longer than that though; she was quick to break it off, even though in her heart she didn't want to. It was then that she realized that she felt something deeper for Gray; she was hesitant to call it love, because she couldn't. She was to marry Lyon, she couldn't go and love someone else- his brother of all people.

Contact was cut from that point on; at least for her it was. He'd tried at first to speak with her, but unless someone else was there with them she refused. She couldn't allow herself to be drawn in; no matter how much she wanted to just fall into him. It didn't take him long to stop attempting; he'd wrote her one last letter and then he was gone, gone into the night.

She hadn't seen him since; no one had. Everything continued as normal and she wanted to scream. How could everyone act like 0everything was okay when she was dying on the inside over here?

With a look at her new husband, she quashed all thoughts of Gray from her mind. She'd come to love Lyon, she had to. But before that, she needed to purge Gray from her being entirely, if she could.

**_iv. the heartbreaking end_ **

_Their story almost always played out the same; either they_ _'_ _d suffer horribly when they met, or they'd just miss their chance with one another, and still suffer. And even though it carried on for several cycles, in the end it was the power of love that vanquished the curse, though not their own. When young Chelia Blendy defeated DiMaria, vessel of Chronos, she not only slayed the God, but stopped the effects of it_ _'_ _s_ _powers that still lingered in the world. Alas, it came just a little too late in this lifetime for the two of them._

Gray stood wordlessly in the hallway of the hospital, eyes bored into the door ahead of him. Age had finally caught up to Ultear and he knew she was nearing her final moments, but he couldn't make his legs co-operate.

She'd been so much to him in such a short time; enemy, mentor, friend, _soulmate_.

A gentle hand on his shoulder snapped him from his thoughts, and he turned to see Lucy giving him an encouraging smile. "She's waiting for you," was all she said, but it was also all she needed to say.

He entered to find Ultear sleeping; her chest rising and falling the only indicator that she hadn't gone yet. Merudy was sitting by her side, hand gripping Ultear's as tears ran down her face.

"She hasn't gotten long," she whispered, voice cracking. "Doctor's say it could happen any minute."

He sat on the other side, having taken her free hand. His thumb ran gentle circles on her hand, and his own tears began to fall. "Rest well, Ultear." _I'll try not to keep you waiting too long._

**_v. the fresh start_ **

Lucy smiled at her great-grandson, who bear her late husbands name-and appearance, as he talked about how far he was coming along with his magic. It had been many, many years since her Gray had passed, and quite a few since the pain had passed. Seeing a part of him live on in their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren helped.

Little Gray was peeking eyes at the newest member of the guild; a young woman who's resemblance to an old friend was uncanny. "Why don't you go talk to her, snowflake?"

He sputtered at that, having turned to her in eye-wide horror. "I-I can't. What if I do something stupid?"

"When I first met your Great-Grandfather; he ended up in a naked fight with my future best friend. I'm sure you can do better than that," Lucy said softly, a pinch on his cheek for added measure.

As he slowly made his way over to Ultear, Lucy couldn't help but smile. _Maybe this time they'll get it right_


End file.
